Kansas City Royals: Rotation is set for duration of 2020 season
The Kansas City Royals finally have a set rotation in this shortened season.
When the 2020 season began, the Kansas City Royals were left without two of their starting pitchers due to both of them having tested positive for COVID-19 and having to miss the start of the season.
That put the Royals in a bind early and forced them to get creative with who they were going to have start games for them. They opted to go with some openers (Ronald Bolanos and Kyle Zimmer were two of them) while they waited for Jakob Junis and Brad Keller to be eligible to rejoin the team.
Now that Junis and Keller are back, the Kansas City Royals finally have a set rotation.
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The rotation is Junis, Keller, Danny Duffy, Brady Singer, and Kris Bubic. Keller is now the top option in the rotation with Duffy, Singer, Bubic, and Junis following suit.
This is a good looking rotation and all of them except for Duffy can be part of their long-term rebuild. The Royals have Mike Montgomery on the injured list, so it’s possible when he comes back that he fills in for someone whether it’s due to injury or someone struggling.
It’s also possible that Montgomery simply goes to the bullpen, where he’s pitched before and did so admirably for the Cubs in the 2016 World Series. The Royals might find that ends up being a better role for their former first rounder.
Obviously something could happen where the rotation gets broken up a bit (injuries, struggles, or maybe just switching things up), but for now, this is the group the Royals have and it’s not too shabby of a rotation considering this team’s outlook for the 2020 season.
Duffy got the Opening Day start and has been pretty good in 2020. He’s 31 years old and turns 32 in December. He has just one more year on his contract after 2020 and could be a potential trade candidate if he continues to pitch well.
Duffy is likely the only starter on the trade block this summer, as the other four are all young options that the team would like to have for the next wave of contention. Keller, Singer, and Bubic are especially valuable for the future of this team, as all of them are 25 years old or younger.
Junis is 27 years old and will turn 28 in September. He’s someone who could potentially lose his starting job if he doesn’t pitch well this year, especially with the likes of Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch, and 2020 first round pick Asa Lacy threatening to come up to the majors in the foreseeable future.
If Junis did lose his spot in the rotation, he might not be a bad option in the bullpen. He has good stuff, but typically has one or two rough innings per game.
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It’s exciting to see the Kansas City Royals rotation start to come together and it’s almost starting to look as if the organization will have too many arms to pick from! That’s a good problem to have and if all of these guys pan out, the Royals will have a very good starting rotation for years to come.